scholarly journals Prophetic Theology in Black Theology, with special reference to the Kairos document

2010 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vuyani S. Vellem
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
Community Based ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Prophetic Vision ◽  
Political Praxis ◽  
Alternative Community ◽  
Best Responses ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

The ‘Protest’ and ‘Confessing’ Models in the streams of Black Theology of liberation provide a creative link between the Prophetic Theology in the Kairos document (KD) and the Black Theology of liberation. Launched in a distinct moment of history – an ‘opportune moment’ – the KD propagated the best responses among some and the worst among others as a rapturous critique of State and Church theologies. In this article, I argued that the KD, which remains a version of liberation theology par excellence, offers a methodology that is still appropriate to our democratisation processes in South Africa. The KD is the product of a theology that did not only expand the contours of traditional theology, but also understood confession as a political praxis. Thus, the interest of the poor should still mitigate forth-telling in our democratic vision in dialogue inspired by the alluring prophetic vision of an alternative community based on the principles of the reign of God.

scholarly journals Black theology versus black spirituality and black faith: The centrality of spirituality and faith in black theology of liberation in the South African context

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olehile A. Buffel
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
Spiritual Journey ◽  
Black Liberation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

Black theology, which is linked to black power in the context of the United States of America and black consciousness in the context of South Africa is often regarded as having nothing to do with spirituality, faith and salvation. It is often regarded by critics as radical, militant and political. In some circles its theological character is questioned. Advocates of liberation theology, past and present are accused of mixing religion with politics. The article traces the history of black theology, as part of liberation theology, which started in the 1960s in three contexts, namely Latin America, United States of America and South Africa. The article argues that spirituality, faith and salvation are central to black theology of liberation. The critical theological reflection that black theology of liberation is all about happens in the context of the spiritual journey of the poor believer and oppressed.Contribution: The contribution that this article makes is to serve as a corrective discourse that rebuts the mistaken accusation that black liberation theology has nothing to do with spirituality and faith. The article makes a direct link between spirituality and faith on the one hand and on the other hand liberating Christian praxis of the poor in their spiritual journey, in the context of South Africans as they struggle to liberate themselves amid poverty, service delivery struggles and COVID-19 and its implications.

scholarly journals Reconsidering the Freedom Charter, the black theology of liberation and the African proverb about the locust’s head in the context of poverty in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ndikho Mtshiselwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Mineral Wealth ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
Equitable Sharing ◽  
Preferential Option ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

While South Africa attained liberation from the apartheid rule in 1994, the legacy of colonialism and apartheid – in the form of poverty and economic inequality – continues to haunt black South Africans. The aim of this article is to make a case for the equitable sharing of South Africa’s mineral wealth amongst all its citizens with the view to alleviate poverty. Firstly, this article provides a reflection on the Freedom Charter and suggests that the values of the Charter, for instance, the sharing of resources and wealth, are relevant in South Africa today. Secondly, it is argued in the present article that the preferential option for the poor which is upheld in the black theology of liberation is equally relevant in post-apartheid South Africa where many black South Africans remain poor. Thirdly, this article argues that the African proverb, Bana ba motho ba ngwathelana hlogo ya tšie [The siblings share the head of a locust], also echoes the idea of equitable sharing of resources with a view to alleviate poverty. Lastly, the author submits that the idea of equitable sharing of resources and wealth that is echoed in the Freedom Charter, the black theology of liberation and the African wise saying support the equitable redistribution of the mineral wealth to the benefit of all South Africans.

scholarly journals A practical theology of liberation: Mimetic theory, liberation theology and practical theology

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joel D. Aguilar Ramírez ◽  
Stephan De Beer
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Life Experiences ◽  
Global South ◽  
Guatemala City ◽  
Urban Context ◽  
Mimetic Theory ◽  
Spatial Justice ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

In this article, the authors bring two personal journeys together: one author’s liberationist journey, sparked by a search for justice and liberation in the slums of Guatemala City, and the other’s lifelong commitment to practical theology and spatial justice in South Africa. A practical theology of liberation is the result of life experiences in countries of the Global South amidst the search for justice and liberation. The worlds that come together in this article are René Girard’s mimetic theory, liberation theology and practical theology. This article raises the question of the cross-contextuality of practical theology and the theological application of mimetic theory to develop innovative theological methodologies that respond to the collective woundedness of the urban context in the Global South.Contribution: The main contribution of this article is the use of three seemingly different theological approaches in conjunction. This article opens the door to inform practical theology with René Girard’s mimetic theory and liberation theology.

Prophetic Preaching, Liberation Theology and the Holy Land

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-244
Author(s):  
Duncan Macpherson
Keyword(s):  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Jewish People ◽  
Holy Land ◽  
Prophetic Preaching ◽  
Oppressed People ◽  
The Bible ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Preferential Option ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

For Christian preachers the Holy Land is essential to understanding the Bible. Preachers often leave modern Israel-Palestine out of their preaching picture. Others, fundamentalist preachers, support modern Israel for its part in an apocalyptic drama of the last times. A third group sees the land as the recompense to the Jewish people for their sufferings – reinforced for some by a residually literalist interpretation of Scripture. Still others show solidarity with indigenous Palestinian Christians, developing a theology of liberation emphasising God's preferential option for the poor – the Palestinians and all oppressed people. Homiletic strategies will be sketched to illustrate this last approach.

Theological Education and Anglican Identity in South Africa

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet Trisk ◽  
Luke Pato
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Spiritual Formation ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
The Political ◽  
Full Account ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Outcomes Based Education

ABSTRACTTheological education should take full account of the context in which it operates and authors share a commitment to a broadly defined liberation theology which takes the experience of the poor as its starting point. Focus is on the College of the Transfiguration in Grahamstown, a city with an unemployment rate of over 50 percent. The College supports not only theological education but also integrates ministerial and spiritual formation. The political context of South Africa has influenced the shape of theology even though students come from many other places. The contextualization thrust of the theology is shaped by a commitment to Outcomes Based Education. Anglican studies curriculum is shaped by this method and aims for a capacity to describe such things as Anglican identity, polity and beliefs. This is carried out in the absence of any sustained robust discourse on Anglican identity in the Anglican Communion.

The Emergence of Islamic Liberation Theology in South Africa

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-61
Author(s):  
Matthew Palombo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Settler Colonialism ◽  
Political Islam ◽  
State Building ◽  
The Political ◽  
Discursive Space ◽  
Subaltern History ◽  
Political Praxis ◽  
Unpublished Manuscripts

AbstractThere is a growing interest in Islamic liberation theology today, and seminal authors such as Ali Shariati, Alighar Ali Engineer (1984, 1990), Farid Esack (1984, 1997), and Hamid Dabashi (2008) have developed its central commitments. In South Africa the earliest representative text was the ‘Review of Faith’ (1984) by Farid Esack, used by the Call of Islam (est. 1984) for cultivating personal piety and conscientization (critical consciousness) against apartheid. Based on recent interviews, unpublished manuscripts, and published works, this article demonstrates how Islamic liberation theology emerged in the political praxis of Muslims against settler colonialism and apartheid. In this subaltern history, political Islam as political praxis and not state building generated a unique discursive space for an Islamic liberation theology to emerge within the confluence of two ideological paths: those of humanism and Islamism.

scholarly journals The idolatry of white supremacy in church and society? Some reflections on Black Theology of Liberation in present-day South Africa in memoriam of Vuyani Vellem

2020 ◽  
Vol 76 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rothney S. Tshaka
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Black People ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
Social Sciences And Humanities ◽  
Church And Society ◽  
History Of ◽  
Black Life ◽  
Scholarly Contribution ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

In remembering Vuyani Vellem, this paper delves into his scholarship, a scholarship that admittedly exudes his activism in academia, church and society. Choosing intentionally the marginalised as the primary interlocutors in discourse, Vellem demonstrates that he is situated in the arena of those who are otherwise seen as the wretched of the earth, insisting that Black Theology of Liberation must engage in a praxis that centres the lived experiences of black people and creates for itself legacies that would attest to Black Theology of Liberation as a formidable hermeneutic that recognises the sanctity of black life in a context of the prevalence of white supremacy. It notes however that a history of colonisation and subjugation has wrecked the humanity of black people, and as a result, a contract with black people becomes essential on this path towards the total emancipation of black people in South Africa and the world.Contribution: The scholarly contribution of this article is its focus on the systematic and practical reflection, within a paradigm in which the intersection of religious studies, social sciences and humanities generate an interdisciplinary contested discourse.

scholarly journals Moltmann’s theology in dialogue with liberation theologians revives the role of Black Theology in democratic South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelebogile T. Resane
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
Theological Method ◽  
God Concept ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Economic Imbalances ◽  
Theological Understanding

The theme for Liberation Theology has always been about concerns for the marginalised masses and socio-political liberation for the economically disadvantaged. Its mandate is to seek to guide towards the discovery of being human without references to historical divisions between the haves and have-nots created by socio-economic imbalances promoted by political regimes. Moltmann’s content of theology, its revision, its innovation rather than the theological method has marked his restless imagination. His method of exploration in doing theology has brought him into dialogue with philosophers and theologians of different persuasions. In this study, he is evaluated in his dialogue with the liberation theologians. The focus is on Moltmann’s theological approach to ecumenism, built around the Kingdom of God concept, and ecclesiastical analysis and political theology. These three areas are the transitional arguments on how Moltmann enters into dialogue with the liberation theologians. The argument moves on to point how Liberation Theology has exerted itself as Black Theology in South Africa during the apartheid time. Black Theology is a theology of liberation because of its resistance and endeavours of eradication of all forms of oppressive systems. The two injustices (socio-cultural misnomers) in the democratic South Africa are discussed as a calling for Black Theology’s voice. These are corruption and human rights abuses. Black Theology brings religion into the secular world as a way of aborting all forms of discrimination based on race, sex and economic class.Contribution: Black Theology is invited to revisit Moltmann’s ecumenical, ecclesiastical and political theological understanding, as a way of reviving itself back to the centre stage of prophetic role within the corrupt and human rights and dignity abuse society.

scholarly journals 50 años de historia espiritual con la opción por los pobres

2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (309) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
José María Vigil
Keyword(s):  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Deep Ecology ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Characteristic Element ◽  
Utopian Vision ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Liberation Spirituality ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

Medellín fue el momento fundante de la espiritualidad y la teología de la liberación, y su elemento más característico: la opción por los pobres. Los 50 años transcurridos han sido de una espiritualidad muy intensa, por el surgimiento de una nueva eclesialidad, la asunción de la conflictividad inherente al seguimiento de Jesús, una mística martirial... El Autor subraya el carácter espiritual de esta historia, recordando momentos memorables, como la visión sociológico-utópica de Gottwald, el final de la “arqueologia bíblica” clásica, la superación del carácter provinciano de la teología cristiana de la liberación, la apertura al horizonte de la ecologia profunda... y el encuentro reciente con los últimos nuevos paradigmas, que muestran que esta aventura espiritual tiene todavía mucho quehacer por delante.Abstract: Medellín was the founding moment of liberation spirituality and theology, and its most characteristic element: the option for the poor. These 50 years have been of a very intense spirituality, because of the emergence of a new ecclesiality, the assumption of the inherent conflictivity of the following of Jesus, the martyrial mystic... The author emphasizes the spiritual character of this journey, recalling memorable moments, like the sociological-utopian vision of Gottwald, the end of classical “biblical archeology”, the overcoming of the parochial character of the ‘Christian’ theology of liberation, the opening to the horizon of deep ecology ... and the recent encounter with the last new paradigms, which show that this spiritual adventure still has much to do ahead.Keywords: Medellín; Spirituality of liberation; Theology of liberation; Option for the poor; Paradigms.

A Tale of Two Priests and Two Struggles: Liberation Theology from Dictatorship to Democracy in the Brazilian Northeast

2007 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Hoffman French
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Liberation Theology ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
The State ◽  
Second Vatican Council ◽  
Military Dictatorship ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Brazilian Northeast ◽  
Theology Of Liberation

Land for the landless, food for the hungry, literacy for the uneducated—not through charitable works, but by forcing the state to take seriously its responsibilities to its poorest citizens. This was integral to the theology of liberation as it was practiced by bishops, priests, and nuns in Brazil beginning shortly after the close of the Second Vatican Council in 1965. Important sectors of the Brazilian Catholic Church were “opting for the poor” at a time when economic development, modernization, and democracy were not considered appropriate or meaningful partners in the repressive environment characterized by the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-1985).

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